Cloud computing is the use of computing resources (hardware and software) that are available in a remote location and accessible over a network, such as the Internet. In a computing environment with many computing devices, such as a virtual server or cloud computing environment with many server computers, the use of computing resources can provide a number of advantages including cost advantages and/or the ability to adapt rapidly to changing computing resource needs.
An important consideration for private enterprise networks in connection with using the expanding cloud computing resources is the ease of moving (or migrating) applications from the private, enterprise-based network to the cloud computing environment. For example, the complexity of existing enterprise-based network applications may cause application migration tasks to be time-consuming, error-prone, and risky endeavors.